Difference between revisions of "Annie Plant"
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=Description= | =Description= | ||
[[File:annie.jpg|right|link= | [[File:annie.jpg|right|link=http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2003-09-21]]The annihilation reactor or "annie plant" is the standard power source of 31st century galactic civilization. It converts a [[Neutronium|compacted mass of neutrons]] into energy, which is captured as electricity to power everything from hand weapons to multi-kilometer-long starships. | ||
An annie plant consists of a spherical vessel, usually colored light blue, which houses all its functional components. The plant maintains a powerful gravitational field which keeps its neutronium fuel compressed. The exact method of matter-energy conversion and energy capture is obscure. | An annie plant consists of a spherical vessel, usually colored light blue, which houses all its functional components. The plant maintains a powerful gravitational field which keeps its neutronium fuel compressed. The exact method of matter-energy conversion and energy capture is obscure. | ||
[[File:skoom.jpg|left|link= | [[File:skoom.jpg|left|link=http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2005-06-15]]Most plants have automated systems which, if a fault is detected, will safely dump the neutronium pile before it has a chance to explode. If these systems fail (or fail to act quickly enough) and gravitational containment is lost, the evaporating neutronium will create a sizeable explosion. The sound of an evaporating neutronium pile is described as "skoom". The spherical vessel that contains the annie plant is incredibly durable, but is vulnerable to anti-tank weapons such as a "[[Nutcracker]]". | ||
[[File:schlockmercenary/annie-warbuck.png|right|link= | [[File:schlockmercenary/annie-warbuck.png|right|link=http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2009-02-04]] | ||
A less-catastrophic failure mode of an annie plant is simply to exhaust its fuel supply in too short a time, leaving insufficient resources to maintain the internal reaction. This renders the plant unable to provide power. Methods exist to safely "cold restart" a plant that has gone offline in this fashion; the process is referred to (at least in military and ship-contractor circles) as "warbucking<span style="line-height: 1.5;">" the plant [ | A less-catastrophic failure mode of an annie plant is simply to exhaust its fuel supply in too short a time, leaving insufficient resources to maintain the internal reaction. This renders the plant unable to provide power. Methods exist to safely "cold restart" a plant that has gone offline in this fashion; the process is referred to (at least in military and ship-contractor circles) as "warbucking<span style="line-height: 1.5;">" the plant [http:''%5B%5B%20http:''www.schlockmercenary.com/2003-02-13%7C2003-02-13%5D%5D 2003-02-13], jargon likely referring to the relationship between the fictional characters </span><span style="line-height: 1.5;">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_%22Daddy%22_Warbucks Daddy Warbucks]</span><span style="line-height: 1.5;"> and the titular "</span><span style="line-height: 1.5;">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Orphan_Annie Little Orphan Annie]</span><span style="line-height: 1.5;">" in Harold Gray's comic book series</span><ref>http://zoo.nightstar.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=19777&view=previous#p357139</ref><span style="line-height: 1.5;"> .</span> | ||
<span style="line-height: 1.5;"> . </span> | <span style="line-height: 1.5;"> . </span> | ||
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=Notable Examples= | =Notable Examples= | ||
<span style="line-height: 1.5;">Tausennigan weapon platforms such as the ''[[Cloak of Untrammeled Dignity]]'' are known to mount nearly two dozen 25km annies<ref></span> | <span style="line-height: 1.5;">Tausennigan weapon platforms such as the ''[[Cloak of Untrammeled Dignity]]'' are known to mount nearly two dozen 25km annies<ref></span> | ||
http://zoo.nightstar.net/viewtopic.php?p=173625&sid=0c7945f087f54c5d2faa4906f599ec71#p173625</ref> . In 2821, the Tausennigan Kssthrata constructed a 302 km diameter annie plant. It operated for 15 seconds before experiencing catastrophic failure. It '''did''', however, demonstrate that the annie plant power curve holds true: "'''bigger is exponentially better'''". The ancient artifact known in the strip as [[Oisr�]] appears to be an annie plant over 3,000 km in diameter, and close to 1,000 times the diameter of current UNS manufacturing capabilities [ | http://zoo.nightstar.net/viewtopic.php?p=173625&sid=0c7945f087f54c5d2faa4906f599ec71#p173625</ref> . In 2821, the Tausennigan Kssthrata constructed a 302 km diameter annie plant. It operated for 15 seconds before experiencing catastrophic failure. It '''did''', however, demonstrate that the annie plant power curve holds true: "'''bigger is exponentially better'''". The ancient artifact known in the strip as [[Oisr�]] appears to be an annie plant over 3,000 km in diameter, and close to 1,000 times the diameter of current UNS manufacturing capabilities [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2012-03-18 2012-03-18]. | ||
=Notable Weapons using annihilation technology= | =Notable Weapons using annihilation technology= | ||
Revision as of 16:42, 24 July 2017
Description
The annihilation reactor or "annie plant" is the standard power source of 31st century galactic civilization. It converts a compacted mass of neutrons into energy, which is captured as electricity to power everything from hand weapons to multi-kilometer-long starships.
An annie plant consists of a spherical vessel, usually colored light blue, which houses all its functional components. The plant maintains a powerful gravitational field which keeps its neutronium fuel compressed. The exact method of matter-energy conversion and energy capture is obscure.
Most plants have automated systems which, if a fault is detected, will safely dump the neutronium pile before it has a chance to explode. If these systems fail (or fail to act quickly enough) and gravitational containment is lost, the evaporating neutronium will create a sizeable explosion. The sound of an evaporating neutronium pile is described as "skoom". The spherical vessel that contains the annie plant is incredibly durable, but is vulnerable to anti-tank weapons such as a "Nutcracker".
A less-catastrophic failure mode of an annie plant is simply to exhaust its fuel supply in too short a time, leaving insufficient resources to maintain the internal reaction. This renders the plant unable to provide power. Methods exist to safely "cold restart" a plant that has gone offline in this fashion; the process is referred to (at least in military and ship-contractor circles) as "warbucking" the plant [http:%5B%5B%20http:www.schlockmercenary.com/2003-02-13%7C2003-02-13%5D%5D 2003-02-13], jargon likely referring to the relationship between the fictional characters Daddy Warbucks and the titular "Little Orphan Annie" in Harold Gray's comic book series[1] . .
Notable Examples
Tausennigan weapon platforms such as the Cloak of Untrammeled Dignity are known to mount nearly two dozen 25km annies[2] . In 2821, the Tausennigan Kssthrata constructed a 302 km diameter annie plant. It operated for 15 seconds before experiencing catastrophic failure. It did, however, demonstrate that the annie plant power curve holds true: "bigger is exponentially better". The ancient artifact known in the strip as [[Oisr�]] appears to be an annie plant over 3,000 km in diameter, and close to 1,000 times the diameter of current UNS manufacturing capabilities 2012-03-18.
Notable Weapons using annihilation technology
include component="pageList" hideInternal="true" tag="weapons, annie app" limit="10"
Speculation
There seems to be no upper limit on annie plant size outside of practical construction concerns. The lower size limit is unknown, but no larger than a small bead.
The operating principles of the annie plant are unknown, and Howard has stated that he will never describe (or draw) what goes on inside one.